The Adopted Son

Chen Jin was like a black hole, absorbing and devouring the surging golden mycelium with the force of a leviathan drinking from the sea.

Wherever he passed, the wildly growing golden lingzhi transformed into streams of light, rushing frantically into Chen Jin's body.

The soldiers, alchemists, and even the statue of the Lord of the Four Seasons that had been covered and on the verge of being assimilated were exposed once more; though covered in wounds, they were temporarily spared the fate of being consumed by the fungi.

A massive, empty void was rapidly expanding with Chen Jin at its center.

"Jiang Yan!" Chen Jin roared, glaring up at the colossal phantom in the sky while frantically devouring the power of the lingzhi. "As the Libationer of Jixia Academy and a paragon for all the world, why would you do such a thing?!"

High above, the phantom of Jiang Yan lowered his gaze slightly to look at Chen Jin, his eyes remaining calm and rippleless.

"Little friend, you truly do not understand me..." With his grand undertaking nearing completion, he was in a talkative mood. "Do you know the meaning of 'Those who steal a hook are executed, while those who steal a state become princes'?"

"Few in this world remember that the State of Qi originally bore the surname Jiang."

"In the past, my ancestor Taigong Wang held the Investiture of the Gods to establish order across the four seas, assisted King Wu in overthrowing Zhou to stabilize the realm, and ascended Mount Tai to seal the gods when he was enfeoffed in the land of Qi."

"The Eight Divine Lords of Qi were the guardian deities personally canonized by my ancestor." His voice deepened, as if recalling the glory of the past. "My ancestor gave them divine offices and designated lands for incense, allowing the people of Qi to offer sacrifices year after year, helping them condense faith and cultivate great supernatural powers."

"At that time, the Eight Divine Lords swore an oath to my ancestor to protect the Jiang family's Qi and the people of this land for generations to come."

"But what was the result?" A sudden chill permeated his tone. "When that thief Tian Chengzi used despicable means to erode the foundation of my Jiang family step by step, and finally murdered the ruler to usurp the throne—do you know what the Eight Divine Lords did?"

He stared at the purgatory below, cold light churning in the depths of his eyes. "Not only did they fail to uphold their oath to protect the state, but they secretly lent their aid to the Tian clan! On the day Tian Chengzi ascended the throne, the Eight Divine Lords personally descended to bestow 'auspicious omens,' helping him stabilize the hearts of the people and consolidate his rule. Do you know why?"

Without waiting for Chen Jin to speak, he laughed at himself. "Because in their eyes, we of the Jiang family were an ancient clan that knew how to 'restrain divine power.' The God-Striking Whip Technique passed down by my ancestor could suppress their arrogance."

"But Tian Chengzi? An upstart who rose to power by murdering his sovereign—he neither knew how to check the gods nor hesitated to use divine power to stabilize his stolen throne. Wouldn't such a ruler be easier for them to manipulate and more convenient for them to indulge in incense than our Jiang family?"

"Then you should have punished the Eight Divine Lords! What does that have to do with us? What does it have to do with the common people of Qi?"

"Because they are innocent, I should not harm them? That is the logic you understand."

Jiang Yan said leisurely, "My logic is that the Golden Elixir refined from gods, men, emperors, and immortals can help me reach the pinnacle of this world, and since I have the ability to refine them into such an elixir, I have done so."

As he spoke, Chen Jin clearly felt the power of the "furnace fire" rising from the earth beneath his feet grow more intense, and the counter-offensive of the surrounding lingzhi became increasingly ferocious.

He was forced to increase the intensity of his [Swallow Sun and Moon], beads of sweat seeping from his forehead as the burden of refining the medicinal power of the lingzhi while simultaneously resisting the erosion grew exponentially.

"Little friend has eaten enough. Eleven, go, help little friend Chen temper his flesh."

As his words fell, a figure stepped out from the shadows at the edge of the battlefield, moving stiffly as if controlled by invisible threads.

It was the semi-automaton, Eleven.

But at this moment, Eleven was a different person from the timid and humble figure in the Academy. His face was filled with pain and struggle; his single, ghostly blue prosthetic eye stared at Chen Jin with pure killing intent, while his human eye was brimming with guilt.

"Eleven, get out of the way!" Chen Jin growled; he did not want to make an enemy of this poor soul.

However, the phantom of Jiang Yan in the sky merely glanced at him indifferently and flicked his finger.

A dark red Seal of the Lord of War, formed from pure baleful energy and shaped like a roaring beast's head, instantly branded itself onto Eleven's chest.

"Ugh, aaaaah—!!!"

Eleven let out a shrill, inhuman shriek.

A deafening roar of countless gears spinning frantically erupted from within his body. The mechanical half of his frame, constructed from refined gold and spirit wood, emitted a teeth-grinding crunch as gears spun wildly, connecting rods extended violently, and armor plates proliferated and layered upon one another.

"Squish! Squish!"

The flesh and skin that Chen Jin had meticulously mimicked to cover him were easily torn and burst apart by this violent mechanical proliferation.

Beneath the ruptured membranes and splashing muscle tissue, metal and wooden structures expanded rapidly.

In an instant, a mechanical giant several zhang tall, surging with baleful energy, stood before Chen Jin.

It was composed entirely of dark bronze and hideous wood, with dark red baleful energy venting from its joints.

Eleven's original "human" half now appeared so insignificant on this massive mechanical frame, looking like nothing more than a twitching, fleshy growth hanging from a colossal steel neck.

His original ghostly blue prosthetic eye now resembled a will-o'-the-wisp, occupying nearly half of that small portion of his head, flowing with endless killing intent.

A massive shadow engulfed Chen Jin, and a giant foot made of bronze and wood descended with the momentum to crush everything in its path!

Chen Jin was forced to divide his attention; as he dodged to the side, [Sun Savior] and [Moon Savior] appeared in his hands. After several thunderous booms, they had little effect.

—The [Symphony of Myriad Phenomena], once repaired by Jiang Yan, had lost its ability to fire armor-piercing rounds.

"Bang!"

Amidst the deafening roar, Chen Jin was shaken by the surging blood in his chest and forced to roll away.

He roared, "Jiang Yan! He is your foster son! How could you do this to him?!"

"You said it yourself—a 'foster' son."

"The world mistakenly believes that the potter wasp does not produce its own young, but instead raises the caterpillar of the moth, hence the use of 'caterpillar' to describe a foster son. Do you know why the potter wasp feeds the caterpillar?"

Chen Jin's face turned ghastly pale in an instant.

The potter wasp captures the caterpillar not to raise it, but to bring it back to its nest, inject it with venom to paralyze it, and then lay its eggs inside its body.

When the eggs hatch, the larvae use the still-living caterpillar as their first meal upon birth.

"You... you treated him as nothing more than... material for your cultivation from the very beginning?! Firewood for your furnace?!" Chen Jin's voice trembled with rage.

"Material? Firewood?" Jiang Yan's phantom seemed to shake his head slightly, as if mocking Chen Jin's shallowness. "No, he is the perfect 'vessel' to carry the baleful energy of the Lord of War, and the most crucial... 'catalyst' to help me complete the final step of this 'Heaven and Earth as a Furnace'."

As soon as he finished speaking, the mechanical giant's eyes were completely drowned in a violent crimson. It let out a roar of total madness and launched a storm of attacks at Chen Jin with the force of a collapsing mountain!